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Joe Lieberman (b. February 24, 1942) is an Independent member of the U.S. Senate from the state of Connecticut. However, Lieberman aligns himself with the Democratic party, and is a member of the Senate Democratic Caucus, being officially listed as an Independent Democrat[1]. Lieberman was first elected to the Senate in 1988.

Lieberman is is not seeking re-election, choosing to retire at the end of his current term. Eleven candidates are running for Lieberman's Senate seat in the August 14, 2012 primary election.[3]

Biography

Lieberman was born in Stamford, Connecticut, on February 24, 1942, and attended public schools there. He received his bachelor's degree from Yale College in 1964 and his law degree from Yale Law School in 1967. [4]

Issues

Political positions

During his re-election bid in 2006, Lieberman lost the Democratic Party primary election but won re-election in the general election as a third party candidate under the party label "Connecticut for Lieberman". Lieberman himself is not a member of the Connecticut for Lieberman party; he is a registered Democrat.[6]

Lieberman was officially listed in Senate records for the 110th, 111th, and 112th Congresses as an "Independent Democrat" and sits as part of the Senate Democratic Caucus.[7]

Analysis

Congressional Staff Salaries

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Lieberman paid his congressional staff a total of $2,780,865 in 2011. He ranks first on the list of the highest paid Independent Senatorial Staff Salaries and he ranks 76th overall of the lowest paid Senatorial Staff Salaries in 2011. Overall, Connecticut ranks 14th in average salary for senatorial staff. The average U.S. Senate congressional staff was paid $2,529,141.70 in fiscal year 2011.[11]

Net worth

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Lieberman's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $907,082 and $3,056,000. That averages to $1,981,541, which is lower than the average net worth of Independent Senators in 2010 of $1,205,273.[12]

Percentage voting with party

Joe Lieberman voted with the Democratic Party 0 of the time, which ranked 0 among the 51 House Democratic members as of November 2011.[13]

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term Joe + Lieberman + Connecticut + Senate

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Personal

Lieberman lives in Stamford and Washington with his wife Hadassah. Together they are the parents of four children and 11 grandchildren.[14] The Liebermans keep a kosher home and observe Shabbat.[15] Lieberman was previously married to Betty Haas. The couple divorced in 1981. [16]